Eight armed men snatched about Rs 23 lakh from two employees of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), at Padmapukur, in Baruipur, on Tuesday. The LIC office is just a few metres from Baruipur police station. Two of the men were arrested, while the Matador used by the gang was impounded. Despite raids at several hideouts, the loot could not be recovered.

Sources said the dacoity took place around noon, when the two employees were getting ready to deposit the money in a bank, escorted by local policemen.

According to superintendent of police, South 24-Parganas, Deb Kumar Ganguly, as soon as the two employees, Susanta De and Swapan Sapui, stepped out of the office, the dacoits pounced on them. “The manager told me that the employees were caught unawares and before they could raise an alarm, the dacoits fled with the cash,” said Ganguly.

While moving towards Bishnupur, the gang lobbed some bombs and fired from revolvers. The police rushed in pursuit and returned the fire, injuring three of the dacoits. One of the injured fell off the vehicle. His mates left the vehicle at Julpia. The driver, Kader, however, could not escape and was taken to Baruipur police station for interrogation. The injured dacoit was admitted to Baruipur sub-divisional hospital.

“We have identified the gang. They are from Joynagar and the Matador was hired from the same place,” the police said. “We have cordoned off different areas in Bishnupur and Thakurpukur,” the police added.

nArrest fallout: Trouble broke out in Behala early on Tuesday, following the arrest of a youth, Bishnu Dutta, in connection with Sunday’s lynching of Benju, 21, alias Kartick. After the police picked up Dutta from his Rai Bahadur Road residence, neighbours tried to rescue him from Sahapur police station. Residents of the area even blocked roads demanding Dutta’s release. A traffic snarl from Sahapur to Taratala inconvenienced schoolchildren and office-goers.